Garment.



F. H SPRAGUE.

GARMENT.

I APPLICATION FILED 1AN.12,|916- v L1$88T Patented May 30,1916.

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Inventor.

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FREDERICK I-I. SPRAGUE, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1916.

Application filed January 12, 1916. Serial No. 71,782.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. SPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, county of Franklin, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Garments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to garments of that class which are provided with an adjustable waist band, such, for instance, as blouses, skirts, trousers, etc., and particularly to garments in which the adjustment is effected by means of a tape or drawing string.

One of the familiar ways of making a blouse, skirt or similar garment with an adjustable waist band is to provide the waist band with a run extending thereabout, into which is placed an adjusting tape or drawing string, the ends of which tape or string extend through an opening formed in the run, so that by drawing up the string, the

waist band can be adjusted to the desired size. This adjustment is maintained by simply tying the ends of the tape or string together. While by this means the proper adjustment as to size can be readily made, yet it has the disadvantage that one or both ends of the tape or string are apt to get drawn into the run through the opening, and when this occurs it is sometimes rather difficult to get at the lost end of the string or tape to pull it through the opening again.

My present invention relates to that type of adjustable waist band in which the adjustment is effected by means of an adjusting tape operating in a run in the waist band, and among the objects of the invention are to provide an adjusting tape of novel construction in which the ends are permanently secured to the garment so that there is no danger of either end becoming lost in the run, and which presents a neat appearance in all adjusted positions; which can be inexpensively manufactured, and which has other advantages, all as will be more fully hereinafter described.

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a blouse made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View of the inside of the'run showing my improved adjusting tape.

I have chosen herein to illustrate my invention as it might be applied to a blouse for adjusting the size of the waist band thereon, but I wish to distinctly state at the outset that the invention is equally applicable to skirts, trousers, and other garments that have an adjustable waist band.

1 indicates the garment to which my invention is applied which is herein shown as a blouse, this garment having the adjustable waist band 2. The waist band is provided at one or more points with a tapereceiving run 3 in which is placed the adjusting tape 4. This run can conveniently be made in the usual hem that is formed at the waist band. The run 3 is provided with an opening 5 through which the tape extends. One end 6 of the tape is permanently secured to the inside of the garment adjacent the opening 5, and said tape is then bent back on itself to form a loop 9 and passes through the opening 5 into the run 3. The tape may be of any desired length and the end 7 thereof which is within the run is permanently secured to the garment in some suitable way as by means of stitches 8. The tape will preferably be of such a length that when the waist band of the garment is stretched out the loop 9 is com paratively small and just sutlicient to cover the end 6 ofthe tape. To reduce the size of the waist band, the. tape is drawn through the opening 5, thus increasing the size of the loop 9, and means are provided for fastening the tape in its adjusted position. This means is herein shown in the form of a button or other equivalent fastening device 10 which is sewed to the end 6 of the tape and buttonholes 11 in the tape, any one of which may be buttoned onto the button 10.

This construction has several advantages. In the first place, the end 6 of the tape which is sewed to the outside of the garment is always covered by the loop 9 in any adjusted position of the tape, and, therefore, it is not necessary to finish this end of the tape as it is sewed to the garment. The tape constitutes a button stay, thus more firmly securing the button to the garment than could be done if the button was sewed simply to the garment itself. This is especially truewhere the garment is made of thin material,v as blouses and waists often are. Further, by sewing the button onto the end 6 of the tape within the loop9 the button is entirelycovered and'concealed from viewso that the presence of the button does not make the garment unsightly. Moreover, the onlyportion of the tape which is visible on the inside of the, waist band is the'loop.

9, and this is so. formed that it presents a finished appearance in all adjusted positions of the tape. Another advantage of this construction is that'when the tape is adjusted to reduce the size of the waist, the pull on the tape comes directly on the button, and

7 as the button is sewed to the end of the tape,

7 the pull to which the tape is subjected comes on a re-inforced portion of the garment.

- Further, the tape is so constructed that there is no loop to hang down and be exposed to view.

- The garment may be equipped with one or more adjusting tapes such as above described. In the case of a blouse, I propose to employ two such adjusting tapes, one at each side thereof, but the number which may be used is immaterial and will depend upon the nature of the garment in which the invention is incorporated.

I claim- 1. A garment having a waist band formed for a portion at least of its length with a tape-receiving run and provided with an opening into the run, an adjusting tape having one end secured to the inside of the garment adjacent the opening, said tape being looped back on itself to cover said end and extending through said opening into the run and longitudinally of the latter, said tape being permanently secured to the garment at a point distant from the opening and being provided with buttonholes adjacent the above-mentioned end, and a button secured to said end of the tape and adapted to cooperate with the buttonholes to effect an adjustment in the size of the waist band. I 2. A garment having a waist band formed for a portion at least of its length with a tape-receiving run and provided with an opening into the run, an adjusting tape having one end secured to the inside of the garment adjacent the opening, said tape being looped back on itself to cover said end and extending through said openinginto the run and longitudinally of the latter, said tape being permanently secured to the garment at a point distant from the opening whereby the size of the waist band can be adjusted by drawing the tape through said opening to enlarge the looped portion thereof, and means for detachably securing the above-mentioned end of the tape to any one of a plurality of pointson the tape body thereby to maintain the desired adjustment.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FREDERICK H. SPRAGUE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. 

